<p>I guess this could apply to other civilians who have worked with the military's Morale, Well-Being, & Recreation (MWR) program, but figured military folk would have more experience.</p>
<p>I've been searching for internship programs (for next summer) for my field, recreation management, and keep getting search hits on the MWR programs offered by the Navy and Coast Guard. I've seen that the Army, Marines, and Air Force also have MWR programs but those three either don't offer internships or have it pretty well hidden in their websites.</p>
<p>Any experiences? Good people? Good programs? Good/bad interactions you've had? What base(s) were you located at?</p>
<p>I posted this in the parents section because I figured the students in the academies wouldn't yet have much (if any) experience with the MWR, but hoping there are some people around this area of the forums with a story or two. Thanks!</p>
<p>Thanks, didn’t see the “parents” section under service academies. Figured it was just prospective/current students hanging out there! Will repost under the parents topic :)</p>
<p>You might call the bases directly. The bigger the base, the bigger the programs offered. On Army bases, the MWR program is sometimes called Outdoor Recreation. Some of the programs are non-appropriated fund programs, so they are financed differently. </p>
<p>At Aberdeen Proving Ground (Maryland), the program has swimming pools and rents a lot of equipment for camping and kayaking. You might look around on individual base’s Web sites. Ft. Bragg and Ft. Sill are large. Ft. Bragg runs a huge ROTC training camp in the summer and though I would imagine that the cadets see nothing recreational about it, there may be some positions for keeping track of equipment–again, it would probably not be fun. So many things are changing with base closures that it is hard to say what might be aviable next summer.</p>
<p>Academy parents may or may not have military experience.</p>
<p>As a retired military wife, I would say that the bases don’t have internships, and most jobs are filled with dependents. Try looking into [USAJOBS</a> - The Federal Government’s Official Jobs Site](<a href=“http://www.usajobs.gov%5DUSAJOBS”>http://www.usajobs.gov) this is a great website.</p>
<p>To find Army jobs, go to [CPOL:</a> Employment Index](<a href=“http://acpol.army.mil/employment/]CPOL:”>http://acpol.army.mil/employment/). There is a tab for internships but if you want to work in recreation, go to the NAF jobs tab. It tells you how to search and apply. When you get to the Vacancy Announcement Board, select Arts and Recreation as your preference. You can narrow the search by region, job level, etc. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips, but I know how to find the internships, and have the addresses and phone numbers to contact when it comes time to apply for the Navy and Coast Guard internships. I know the pay is through NAF and all that. </p>
<p>I’m more looking for people’s experiences with the MWR. Good? Bad? Did you/your family utilize their services?</p>
<p>My parents and most of my extended family are retired military (mostly Navy) but that was 20-30+ years ago and MWR wasn’t even a fraction of what it is today, and they admit that their memories of MWR are probably outdated This route is appealing to me because my family does have military background and in some ways I’ve always kinda wanted to be involved with them, and I don’t mind moving from base to base if they need me to relocate (obviously this is if I went in full-time after the internship).</p>
<p>I’ve worked with and enjoyed the services of Army MWR facilities all over Europe and CONUS. They do a great job and offer a great range of services. My favorite recent use was renting a motor home and spending the week at the Outer Banks. I’ve used their ticketing services, gone on cruises, stayed at four different AFRC facilities, golfed, boated, lots of stuff. I’ve never had a complaint and if that is your area of interest, I think you’d enjoy working for the Army in that capacity.</p>
This route is appealing to me because my family does have military background and in some ways I’ve always kinda wanted to be involved with them, and I don’t mind moving from base to base if they need me to relocate (obviously this is if I went in full-time after the internship).</p>